1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to agricultural equipment, and more particularly to a method and system for separating plants having intertwined roots.
2. Discussion of the Background
Plants are sometimes raised at nurseries and then transplanted for growing in farms. Strawberries are an example of a crop that is raised this way. Thus, for example, a field of strawberries is grown for a certain period of time, the plants are harvested and packaged for sale as individual plants.
Often, the roots of adjacent plants become intertwined. The manual separation of individual plants is performed manually, and is very labor intensive. In addition, some plants may not be healthy enough to survive transplantation. These plants need to be separated and not sold for transplanting.
There exists a need for a machine and method that can process large quantities of harvested plants and separate them into individual plants. Such a machine and method should be highly automated and be capable of separating the plants without damaging the roots. It would also be advantageous to be able to also eliminate plants that do not seem healthy enough to survive transplanting.